WWE has made some goofy decisions when it fills out its Hall of Fame — Johnny Rodz, Refrigerator Perry and Pete Rose among them. But Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon, who will enter the Hall of Fame on March 27, is about as good as they come ... a guy with as much bark as bite.

Now 80, Vachon competed at the 1948 Olympics as an 18-year-old amateur wrestler, first meeting a guy he would later become a bitter rival of in the ring —
Verne Gagne.

Vachon became a bouncer in Montreal before giving pro wrestling a try in 1954. He bulked up a bit, shaved his head and grew a goatee. He looked south of the border and found success. He was soon transformed into Mad Dog, becoming a despised heel, at one time living in Winnipeg, an important stop on the AWA circuit.

He had a leg amputated in 1987 after being struck in a hit-and-run accident. That would be exploited in a 1996 WWE storyline when Diesel ripped the artificial leg off Vachon, who was being honoured at an In Your House pay-per-view. The leg was then taken by Shawn Michaels, who clocked Diesel and got the pin.

Around the ring

TNA’s Impact begins its head-to-head run against RAW Monday on Spike TV. It’s expected Rob Van Dam will make his TNA debut ... Angelo Poffo, father of Macho Man Randy Savage and Leaping Lanny Poffo (The Genius) died at the age of 84 Thursday ... Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) told fanhouse.com he believes John Cena and Randy Orton played a role in his WWE release ... Criss Angel is the guest host of Monday’s RAW, with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Pete Rose taking over the following two weeks. Last week’s hosts, Cheech and Chong, are still tripping after too many Lucky Charms ... And, Bret Hart has his match against Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania.